Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller was solid in a Game 1 victory over Detroit, making 21 saves. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – Questions began to percolate around the Ducks about their playoff readiness during an erratic month-long stretch with not much to play for, since their postseason ticket was essentially punched in March.

After a Game 1 win over Detroit, the Ducks' playoff switch is firmly set to the on position.

The Ducks might have suffered from a lack of focus in the final weeks of the regular season but they were plenty engaged Tuesday night in a series-opening, 3-1 victory over the Red Wings in front a lively, overflow crowd at Honda Center.

Maybe there was concern about their pedestrian 8-9-2 finish. None of it came from within the Ducks, who used the season's final week to tune up their game.

"We played three great hockey games at the end of the season," center Ryan Getzlaf said after an optional practice Wednesday. "I thought our guys did a great job turning it on at the end of the year so that when we hit the playoffs, we were in stride."

The Ducks hoped that they established a formula for playoff success, at least in this first-round series that continues with Game 2 on Thursday night. A combination of composed, tight defensive work, strong goaltending and a humming power play proved highly effective.

Two decisions by Bruce Boudreau in his first playoff game as the Ducks' bench boss paid off in Game 1. One was giving Jonas Hiller the call over Viktor Fasth in goal. Hiller had a sharp effort with 21 saves.

When asked if he's pleased to not worry about a goaltending controversy after Game 1, Boudreau said jokingly, "So far. I was waiting for (the question). Are you going to start Viktor Fasth? I've done stranger things."

"I felt that I played really solid," Hiller said. "Had some good saves in key moments. The goal was a late bad bounce. It's tough to scare yourself. I know what I felt comfortable with. I know where I can improve. Hopefully I can play better tomorrow."

The second was handing the assignment of shutting down Detroit stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to the Daniel Winnik-Saku Koivu-Andrew Cogliano third line. All Datsyuk and Zetterberg could manage were four shots between them.

"I think we played our game plan pretty much perfect," Cogliano said. "There's times where we let them have a couple of good chances right in front of the net that Hillsy had to make good saves on.

"But we felt like in the neutral zone, we did a good job containing their speed. I think the other thing that we needed to do was get on the forecheck a little bit more and try to wear down their defensemen."

That is one tactic the Ducks will try to further employ for Game 2. No longer are they going into a playoff series having to deal with the regal Nicklas Lidstrom on their back end controlling the tempo and triggering the Wings' transition game.

Niklas Kronwall has taken over as Detroit's top dog on the blue line but the Wings had Brendan Smith and Danny DeKeyser playing in their first playoff games. A month ago, DeKeyser was skating for Western Michigan.

"Obviously when they had Lidstrom and (Brad) Stuart, their defense was more experienced," Ducks winger Teemu Selanne said. "You try to take advantage of the things that you can do. And obviously not to have to play against Lidstrom every night, it's a totally different game."

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock knows that there are some green youngsters gaining experience alongside old hands Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Daniel Cleary. "I don't think you've got to get hit by a car to know that it hurts," Babcock said.

What Babcock focused on Wednesday was getting his troops to attack better, whether with the forecheck that the Wings can do on their own or through the neutral zone where there'll be met with a challenge.

"We weren't very good coming out of our zone," Babcock said. "We didn't have a lot of speed so we didn't have attack time. I didn't like our game very much.

"It seemed that there's two parts always to it. There's their part and there's your part. So we've got to give them credit for what they did and fix what we didn't do and move ahead."

Zetterberg said facing the Koivu-centered line wasn't unexpected and credited the three with their defensive play.

"We can't really get caught in the neutral zone," he said. "We've got to get pucks deep. Play in their end. They're playing good defense so we just got to be a little better creating more chances.

"There's nothing on the rush so you've got to spend time in their end."

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